Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-26
DAKOTA HAPPENINGS.
Soma Cheerful FabrIoations of Just An
Average Dakota Liar.

Soma Cheerful FabrIoations of Just An
Average Dakota Liar.
In the east thousands of people plant
and SOW "in the moon" to insure rapid
Growth, but in Dakota it is dangerous to
nIant in the prolific phase of the moon,
eo they are careful to plant at such time
that the moon will exert its influence in
boIdinq the crop back. l have known
several disasters to result from neglect
of this precaution. One day last January
oct lost out in the country, and while l
pas toiling through the tall, new grass l
cav g man with nothing on but his sus-
lenders tearing along like mad. He
etopped lust long enough TO tell me what
was M, aud of he went for the Iowa side
NJ tine Sioux river, which he cleared at 8
hound. and fell on all tours in q snow
drift four feet deep. He said he and his
wife had looked up the moon business
snd had planted their garden the evening
baforp. but happened TO get hold OF 3
last wears almanac and missed it about
fonr DAYS. The result was that when he
woke up that morning the beets
thst he planted forty-feet from the house
had crushed in his cellar walls, and @
oCuash vine had taken the door of it's
hinges. and was Just hopping the floor
zi+b all that was left Of the hired man,
whom Il had snatChed out of bed in the
ot+ic He didn't know where his wife
mas INT he saw some shreds of g. night
Gown snd several agate buttons in the
Front ward as he fed. He said there were
Dea vines after him with. pods on 'em
large enough for phantom boats, and
one could see by the way he was dressed
that if he was liar at all he was not q
regular thoroughbred Dakota sample.
If really thought l would ever become
an average Dakota liar | would want to
die.
About two weeks ago | saw q farmer
out behind q straw-stack gathering into q
heap lot of old bones and pieces Of
hides ano sprinkling salt on them. Yes
rerday | saw this same man selling fine
pair of steers to butcher uptown. They
we're SO fat and mad filled up SO fast that
ne had pieced out their hides with
an old buffalo robe. This gran
ger was Sunday-school super
intendent before he came 10 Da-
kota, but he swore these were the cattle
had seen MIN kicking together behind
the straWstack He said ali they had
eaten was some wild grass that had
sprung up in MS door yard, where the
women folks had thrown a few tubs
of warm sOapsuds on washdsys.
He said that he had learned that
the best way TO winter stock
in Dakota was to knock them to pieces
in the fall and set them up again as
wanted, otherwise, unless we got biz
zard every week, they were liable to get
Fo+ on N @
LAST fall l stopped at house to borrow
match TO Light my pipe with. The man
told me 70 go right out in the garden and
pick all I wanted. / did not know what
il meant ct first; 0ut he went out with
me, Gnd-rm almost afraid you'll think
me 8 liar for telling it-there was about
half an acre growing the finest parior
matches ever saw. They were as thick
as hair on blind mole. He said he had
q poor crop the year before because the
seed was too good for such soil This
year he had mixed his seed matches with
about one-third toothpicks, and get a
splendid yield.
went out after breakfast and saw the
man blowing up Hubbard squ6shes with
gunpowder. They were too large to be
moved, and the farmer wanted the
ground.
[ noticed that one of his wife's
legs was some inches shorter than
the other, and the man explained
it thus: He said when they first
came to Dakota they lived in a
fdug-out,' with nothing but the ground
for q floor, from which they had 10 NOW
the grass once day to ind the baby
lie said his wife had g habit of sitting
with one leg over the other knee, and the
leg that remained in contact with the
soil got such g start that the other coula
never catch up.